I came home from work today and went over to greet Flotsom, only to see he has a small circular hole in his dorsal fin. I don't think there is anything in his tank he could have snagged himself on and I only run the filter when I am downstairs an able to keep a good eye on him. Other than the hole he seems fine, he is displaying good color and active behavior. Could this be fin rot?? And if it is how do I begin treatment? Any advice to calm my nerves would be helpful.

I came home from work today and went over to greet Flotsom, only to see he has a small circular hole in his dorsal fin. I don't think there is anything in his tank he could have snagged himself on and I only run the filter when I am downstairs an able to keep a good eye on him. Other than the hole he seems fine, he is displaying good color and active behavior. Could this be fin rot?? And if it is how do I begin treatment? Any advice to calm my nerves would be helpful.

Hey there- how goes it?

With all of your decor, could all of it pass the "panty hose" test? If anything could snag a pair of panty hose, it can hurt a Betta's fin.

While I'm new to the betta fish world, a photo of the injury/sore spot would greatly help in identifying if it's fin rot or not!

Have you checked out the Betta Fish Disease and Treatment Sticky by DarkMoon17? Listed there are a wide array of betta fish diseases (such as Fin Rot) as well as conservative and medicinal treatment. Here's the link: http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=73332

Even if it's not fin rot, API's Stress Coat ($3.99 at PetSmart) should help his fin. Make sure water's properly clean to aid the healing!

To me, even though the photos are small, it doesn't look like fin rot.In my research on fin rot (I thought my betta baby had it for awhile so I went ballistic), I've never seen it start from the inside of a fin to out. Are the edges of his fins normal? If not, what do they look like? Perhaps someone more experienced here can give you a better and more conclusive opinion!

In the meantime, I'd get some stress coat (which can also help heal fin rot, just in case it may be), do some more reasearch, and continue keeping the water healthy.

Happy to report I think I found the offending plant that might have snagged his fin. I was pretty aggressive in my test with the panty hose this time around. I've decided to change 25 % of his water weekly until the fin heals. I've also picked up some stress coat and upgraded to Prime water conditioner. Fingers crossed !

It's good you found the plant.. however.. I misunderstood you. By biweekly you mean once every other week and not twice weekly?

In a 10g fully cycled tank a once weekly change of 25-50% with gravel siphon is always needed. However cycling takes up to two months and during this time you should use a reliable drops kit for ammonia and nitrite to test daily and do an additional 50% change any time you see either show up.

So if he was purchased on the 11th and you are only doing small changes every other week he has ammonia burns.